In-Game Advertising Comes to Board Games

Grooves writes "Monopoly is getting rid of paper money in favor of credit cards. From the article: 'The new card, which resembles a debit card, is inserted into a small plastic reader/writer that can display and update the balance on the card. Traditional money is gone altogether, though purists can still purchase the original version.' Does this mean the end of complex Monopoly games where I charge grandma interest to borrow money?"

Comments

lame

[Anonymous Coward]

I grew up playing Monopoly, but I've come to realize that Monopoly is a terrible board game. It is sad that it is still played so widely when there are so many great boards games to come out just recently. Monopoly changing the names and adding an electronic gimmick won't save itself from poor mechanics.

At bare minimum families should be playing Settlers of Catan these days. *Maybe* Carcassonne. Puerto Rico and Reiner Knizia games for families that claim to know something about board games.

A good site for other games, review, and community check out Board Game Geek

Re:Mixed feelings

[Rob Kaper]

1. That is not an official rule. I've quite thoroughly gone through every little tiny seemingly insignificant available rule when writing Atlantik/monopd.

2. Although obviously there's no physical money, I did of course write the ever-so-popular "Free Parking collects fines" rule as option. ;-)

Re:Deadbeat

[MajroMax]

Interesting... I pay my balance off every month, and they raise my credit line. So, is it because they like me, or because they hope i'll spend more and _not_ be able to pay it off in one month?

Both. By regularly paying off your bill, you demonstrate that you're a good credit risk. The bank is hoping that you'll be stuck with a running balance and pay their interest fees on it, but they're also confident that if/when you do, you'll make regular payments and not default.

Re:Hmm

[PurpleFloyd]

You have to use a credit card regularly to build a credit history, don't you?

No, credit history is built with every cent you borrow. It's true that, starting from scratch, it's very difficult to qualify for larger loans. Without a strong credit history, you probably won't be able to get a home loan, or a car loan with any kind of decent interest rate. In fact, pretty much the only large loan available to someone without a good credit history or collateral is a student loan.

Using a credit card, and paying the balance in full each month, is probably the easiest and best way to get a good credit score. However, it's certainly not the only way.

Re:Hmm

[LordKronos]

That's a violation of almost every merchant account agreement I've ever seen. You ARE allowed to offer a cash discount, but you may NOT charge a price higher than the displayed price for credit card purchases.

Re:stacks of money

[strikethree]

but as an American, I've never been to Atlantic City, either, and I've always wondered if Mediterranean Ave. was the dump the game portrays it to be.

It is. All of the properties generally reflect reality.

strike